Belgium Industrial production March 2016

Belgium: Industrial production contracts at a softer pace in March

May 25, 2016

In March, industrial production contracted a seasonally-adjusted 1.0% over the previous month, which marked a softer contraction compared to the 2.3% decline tallied in February (previously reported -2.1% month-on-month). The reading came on the back of a broad-based contraction in all four components of the index with the construction component tallying the steepest drop.

In annual terms, industrial production nosedived from the strong 8.1% expansion tallied in February to a 1.7% expansion in March. Meanwhile, annual average growth eased from a 1.4% increase in February to 1.2% in March.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect that industrial output will expand 2.6% in 2016, which is up 0.3 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2017, the panel sees industrial production picking up to a 2.5% increase.

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According to a flash estimate released by the Bank of Belgium (NBB) on 29 January, GDP grew 0.5% in quarterly terms in Q4, which was an acceleration from Q3’s revised 0.2% expansion (previously reported: +0.3% quarter-on-quarter).